Once Again, Phillies Come Alive In Series Finale

GAME RECAP: Phillies Tame Tigers 8-5

Odubel Herrera's three-run home run and Peter Bourjos' solo shot powered a six-run attack against Anibal Sanchez as the Phillies captured the finale against the Tigers with an 8-5 win on Wednesday at Comerica Park. After a double steal of second and home punctuated a two-run second inning, a pair of Tigers errors in the fourth helped set up Herrera, who pounced on a hanging slider from Sanchez and sent it into the right-field seats. Bourjos ended the afternoon for Sanchez (3-6) with a solo homer to begin the seventh. "He had some real good innings and looked like he got in a groove, and then all of a sudden, he'd hang a pitch," said bench coach Gene Lamont, who filled in as manager for Brad Ausmus. "But we know how good of stuff he has. He just needs to put it together." Aaron Nola (4-3) picked up the win with six strikeouts over six innings of four-run ball, withstanding a Tigers three-run, five-hit rally in the fifth. Jeanmar Gomez retired the top of Tigers' lineup in order in the ninth for his Major League-leading 17th save.

PHILS PHACTS:

• The Phillies took advantage of Sanchez's deliberate delivery and Bourjos' speed on first base to take a run on a double steal in the second inning. Tigers catcher James McCann, who has thrown out nine of 16 would-be basestealers this season, tried to throw out Bourjos and sailed it, allowing Andres Blanco to dash home as shortstop Jose Iglesias corralled the throw. "We were going to come back home, but the throw [to second] got a little bit high and wide," Lamont said. "When it's like that, it just kind of takes the shortstop [out of position]. He just couldn't set himself to throw back home. If [Blanco] ran, we were going to throw back home."
• After reliever David Hernandez had allowed three straight baserunners and a run in the seventh, Hector Neris came in to face the Nos. 4 and 5 batters of the Tigers' lineup. He threw a low splitter to get Victor Martinez to strike out swinging. With a full count during the next at-bat, Neris threw a quick pitch that froze Nick Castellanos to strand runners at first and second. "That's the first time I've been quick-pitched, probably since 'A' ball," Castellanos said. "It is what it is. I was frustrated that it happened. Usually, it's been attempted, but it's always been stopped. Usually, [umpires] give the hitter that courtesy, but just learn and move on."
• "For me, it was a must-win. We've lost four out of five, and I felt like we needed to come out of here with a win. And when we scored early, I felt pretty good. They answered back, but we went ahead again. So it was nice to see. The guys battled, and to me, it looked like they played like we had to win this game." -- Manager Pete Mackanin, on Phillies avoiding a sweep.
• Herrera has hit safely in 28 out of 31 games since he was moved to the leadoff spot on April 20.
• Slugging Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco left the game with a right ankle sprain suffered while sliding into second base in the seventh inning. Cesar Hernandez took his place.
• Freddy Galvis' whirling stop and throw to end an eighth-inning threat withstood a replay review when the Tigers argued that Iglesias beat the throw. After a one-minute, 28-second review, the call stood, stranding Steven Moya on third and preventing Maybin from stepping to the plate as the potential tying run.

NEXT GAME:

Philadelphia travels to Chicago on Friday to start a three-game series against the Cubs that will wrap up a six-game road trip. It is the first of two series between the two clubs this season, and Adam Morgan will make the start opposite the Cubs' Jon Lester at 2:20 p.m. ET.

PHILS PHACTS:

Evaluations Needed – Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco left Wednesday's 8-5 win over the Tigers with a mild right ankle sprain, injuring his foot sliding into second base during the seventh inning. Franco had a slight limp after the game, and manager Pete Mackanin said the training staff will evaluate him on Thursday, an off-day for the Phillies as they travel to Chicago for a three-game weekend series with the Cubs. Mackanin said he anticipates being cautious with Franco over the next several days. Mackanin said Franco immediately told third-base coach Juan Samuel that he had sprained his ankle when he slid into second base, but he did not come out of the game until between innings when Cesar Hernandez entered at second base and Andres Blanco moved to third. Franco, with tape on his ankle, said he was fine, but it is a little sore. The 23-year-old said he is already feeling better, and he anticipates that he will be ready to play Friday in Chicago after he ices his ankle Wednesday and Thursday. Franco went 5-for-11 with one home run in the Detroit series. He is hitting .260 on the year.

Bearing Down – Aaron Nola improved his record to 4-3 on the season behind six strikeouts on Wednesday in the Phillies' 8-5 win over the Tigers. Nola's curveball was working well for him, as he got five of his six strikeouts with it. He started the game by striking out the side in the first inning, all of them coming on the curve. He said the first inning gave him confidence for the rest of the game. "I knew after I struck the side out there in the first, I had to bear down more, because I felt like I needed to make better pitches after that inning," Nola said. "After the first couple of innings, I felt like my ball was kind of leaking over the plate and I was kind of yanking my fastball away to righties." Nola said he left some breaking balls over the middle of the plate, which led to good swings from the Tigers' powerful lineup. Nola surrendered three runs on five hits in the fifth inning, all of which were singles. "After that, I really kind of tried to forget about that and go out there in the sixth inning and put a zero on the board," Nola said. He was able to do that, getting the Tigers out in order on seven pitches. Manager Pete Mackanin said Detroit's bottom of the order was trouble for the Phillies on Wednesday, especially in the fifth. But he thought Nola did a great job against Miguel Cabrera in that inning, breaking his bat and inducing an infield popup. That at-bat helped lessen a big Detroit threat, as Victor Martinez came to the plate with two outs and one runner in scoring position, instead of Cabrera breaking it open and potentially ending Nola's day. "Aaron Nola is a good pitcher, and he made some mistakes in that fifth inning, but he can also make a lot quality pitches, and he did to a pretty darn good hitter," Mackanin said.

Double Trouble – The Phillies, trying to ignite their struggling offense in support of young starter Aaron Nola, swiped a run off the Tigers with a double steal, allowing Andres Blanco to steal home in the second inning for a run in Wednesday afternoon's 8-5 win over Detroit at Comerica Park. It was an aggressive play with two outs, but if the Phillies were ever going to try it, they had the combination. Blanco went from first to third on Peter Bourjos' two-out RBI single. With the speedy Bourjos on first base and Odubel Herrera batting against Anibal Sanchez -- who has struggled to hold runners all season while tinkering with the hip turn in his delivery -- Bourjos took off for second trying to bait a throw. Tigers catcher James McCann, who has thrown out nine of 16 would-be basestealers this season, tried to throw him out. Shortstop Jose Iglesias didn't appear to be expecting it. He came in late as the throw sailed high, allowing Blanco to score without much trouble for a 2-0 Phillies lead.

Studying The Competition – Phillies manager Pete Mackanin has dubbed the Tigers as "the most dangerous lineup." Rookie Tommy Joseph has also taken notice of the Tigers' firepower, and he's looking to take something away from Detroit's success as he adjusts to life in the Majors. The 24-year-old said he grew up watching a lot of the hitters on Detroit, which has the second-best batting average (.267) in the American League. Joseph thinks it's good to study the Tigers. "They're tough hitters, tough competitors. You sit there and watch them, and they're having a blast while they're playing, too," Joseph said. "I think it's good for us, too, to be able to take a little bit from playing them, getting the opportunity to watch and see how much fun they're having while they're playing well, and see what they're doing right. So it's something to learn from." Joseph went 1-for-3 Tuesday night, but he narrowly missed two more hits, lining out sharply twice. He hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning that plated the Phillies' lone run in a 3-1 loss. He's hitting .304 in eight games since joining the club. Even though Philadelphia has dropped four of its past five games, Joseph said the team is gaining confidence after starting the season on a hot streak. "Anytime you win, it's going to give you confidence, anytime you can put a few together like we did, it's going to give you even more confidence," he said. "So I think right now, Detroit's playing really good baseball, so with this day game today, we're going to try and take one from them. We definitely have a lot of confidence in here. I don't think we doubt each other, by any means. Just fight a little harder and get those key timely hits." Joseph said he has been working hard to try to keep the Phillies' turnaround season going on the right path. "I've only been here for a week, but throughout that week, you can tell with these guys, they want it bad," he said. "And I'm very happy to be a part of it, so I'm looking forward to continuing to work hard."

Today In Phils History – It is hard to believe that it has already been a decade since phan phavorite Chris Coste made his major league debut. And for some of you other phans, the same can be said of Bob Walk who debuted on this day in 1980. Even more improbable is the fact that two former Phillies first baseman have been away from the game for so long with Travis Lee and Ricky Jordan celebrating their 41^st and 51^st birthdays respectively. Of course, long before any of these events, Chuck Klein was making history when he hit for the cycle (his second time ass a Phillie) against St. Louis in 1933. In 1956, it was the opposing hitter that made history when Pittsburgh’s Dale Long connected for a homerun in his MLB record 7^th consecutive game. 6 years later it was an opposing pitcher stealing the headlines as Sandy Koufax struck out 16 Phillies in the Dodgers’ victory. 1970 saw a better, and more unique, game when Tony Taylor hit a game winning inside the park homerun against the Expos. 20 years later was a night of mixed emotions as nearly 57,000 fans attended the ceremony to retire Mike Schmidt’s number at the Vet.    

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 26-21 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 41-52-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record. Let the rebuild begin!

Phillies Overpowered by Mets

GAME RECAP: Mets Beat Phillies 6-3

Three home runs helped the Mets burst out of a long weekend offensive drought, with Wilmer Flores' three-run shot in the sixth propelling New York to a 6-3 win over the Phillies at Citi Field. "The home runs were a big difference today," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "That's something we have not been doing." Flores, Michael Cuddyer and Lucas Duda all went deep in support of Bartolo Colon, who earned his seventh win by holding Philadelphia to three runs over six innings. Colon struck out six, walked two and allowed a two-run single to Chase Utley in the third. Ryan Howard drove in the other Philadelphia run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. "I do feel as a team we are playing better," said Howard, whose team has lost five of seven following a six-game winning streak. "You've got to continue to try to find the positives. The results aren't necessarily there all the time. But you just have to continue to try to find the positive in each day and try to carry it over." Flores' blast off Justin De Fratus scored Cuddyer and Daniel Murphy, who also added an RBI single. The homer gave the Mets their first win in four tries and Flores sole possession of the Major-lead homer lead among shortstops, with seven. "When he gets to the 400 at-bat mark this guy is going to have some pretty impressive numbers," Collins said. "I just know he's a good hitter. He's a clutch hitter with guys on base."

OTHER NOTES FROM THE DAY:

• Phillies right-hander Severino Gonzalez cannot get through a lineup more than twice. He lasted just 4 1/3 innings. In four starts this season, he has not pitched more than five innings.
• De Fratus replaced Elvis Araujo with a runner on first and no outs in the sixth inning. He walked Cuddyer on four pitches, then allowed a three-run home run to Flores to make it 6-3. De Fratus has allowed 7 of 9 inherited runners (77.8 percent) to score this season, which is the highest percentage in baseball among relievers with eight or more inherited runners. "It was tough to find the strike zone today," De Fratus said. "It was just a freak day."
• Utley went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and one walk. He is hitting .406 (13-for-32) with five doubles, one triple, six RBIs and a 1.111 OPS in his past 10 games.
• "I ain't going to lie, I thought I had it. It would have been nice if it had gone. I guess it's knowing the field, knowing where the jetstream is." -- Howard, who flied out deep to center field with the bases loaded in the fifth inning.
• Outfielder Kelly Dugan, who ranks No. 16 among Phillies prospects according to MLBPipeline.com, will begin to play extended spring training games Wednesday in Clearwater, Fla. He has been sidelined with a stress fracture in his right foot.
• Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard is the only player on Philadelphia's roster with an extra-base hit against deGrom. He has homered.
• Freddy Galvis is 3-for-3 against deGrom.
• The Mets have won 18 of their past 23 games against the Phillies.

NEXT GAME:

Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom pitches Tuesday night against the Phillies at Citi Field, where he hopes to build upon a dominant pitching performance last week against the Cardinals. He allowed one hit and struck out 11 in eight scoreless innings against St. Louis. He is 2-0 with a 1.37 ERA in three career starts against the Phillies. Phillies right-hander Jerome Williams hopes to finish May on a high note because so far it has been a tough one. He is 1-3 with a 7.03 ERA in five starts in May, following a solid April, when he went 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA in four starts.

PHILS PHACTS:

Room For Improvement – Phillies right-hander Severino Gonzalez is in the rotation for the foreseeable future, which means at some point the 22-year-old must prove capable of pitching more than twice through a lineup. He lasted 4 1/3 innings in Monday's 6-3 loss to the Mets at Citi Field. He is 2-1 with a 6.88 ERA in four starts. "The second and third time through the order, I have to pay attention to that," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "He's a young pitcher. He's still working on the secondary pitches. The first time through the order, his fastball is effective. But you know what? Since he's been here, he's hung in there and held his own pretty well." Gonzalez struck out the side in both the first and second innings -- he allowed one run in the first -- and recorded his first seven outs via strikeout, until Lucas Duda crushed a solo home run 452 feet to right field in the third and Michael Cuddyer ripped a solo homer 434 feet to left field in the fourth. Gonzalez then allowed a leadoff single to Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon in the fifth. Curtis Granderson followed with a single to right. Sandberg pulled him two batters later. Gonzalez entered the afternoon holding hitters to a .593 OPS the first time through the lineup. The OPS ballooned to 1.301 the second time through. It explains why Gonzalez has not pitched more than five innings in any of his starts. "That's one of those goals I have," Gonzalez said through translator and teammate Andres Blanco. "Stretch a little bit more. That's good for me and good for the team." Perhaps Gonzalez took a step in the right direction. He had struck out just five batters in his first 12 2/3 innings this season. He struck out eight Monday. "Basically, I focused more on keeping the ball down," he said. "The other team, they will swing at everything, something that will help. The changeup worked pretty well today."

Looking To Improve Their Performance – If the Phillies could hit just enough and get enough quality starts from the rotation, they figured they could surprise a few people this season because they expected to have one of the best bullpens in baseball. It has not happened that way. The bullpen allowed three runs in Monday's 6-3 loss to the Mets at Citi Field. Left-hander Elvis Araujo got a huge inning-ending double play in the fifth inning. But after he allowed a single to Daniel Murphy in the sixth, Phillies right-hander Justin De Fratus walked Michael Cuddyer on four pitches before Wilmer Flores hit a 3-1 fastball over the wall in left field for a three-run home run. "It was tough to find the strike zone today," De Fratus said. "It was just a freak day. "I watched the video [of Flores' homer run]. I mean, I'm trying to get it down and away. I think I got it away enough, but it's such a predictable count. I think at that moment, I hadn't thrown any secondary pitch for a strike yet. Flores, he did what he should with that pitch. He should barrel it. He should hit it hard, and he did, and it got over the wall." The Phillies' bullpen has the highest WHIP in baseball at 1.52. It also has allowed 21-of-41 inherited runners (51.2 percent) to score, which is the highest mark in the Majors. The average bullpen entered the day having allowed 30.6 percent of inherited runners to score. No other bullpen had allowed more than 45.1 percent to score. "Yeah, that's been a problem for us," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "A lot of the same. A lack of establishing the strike zone out of the 'pen. And quality pitches when they're pitching behind in the count." De Fratus has allowed 7-of-9 (77.8 percent) inherited runners to score this season. Phillies left-hander Jake Diekman has allowed 7-of-11 (63.6 percent). They have the two highest percentages in baseball among pitchers with eight or more inherited runners. That is a considerable change from the past. De Fratus had allowed 27-of-84 inherited runners (32.1 percent) to score before the season. Diekman had allowed 21-of-75 (28.0 percent). That is more in line with the 28.7 percent big league average from 2012-14. "I don't know if that is really attributed to anything," De Fratus said. "It's just a matter of sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The game plan hasn't changed. I'm still out there trying to go in and pound the strike zone. It didn't happen today. It's just one of those days. My arm wasn't catching up like it usually does. That's really all it was."

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are starting the season as expected and are now near the bottom of the NL east at 19-28. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and performance this spring, don’t expect their competitive place in the standings to last. All time, the Phillies are 41-52-0 on this day.